Concept statement

[Shakspeares suck]

Hey all,
I am attempting to write my Lighting concept statement (lighting analysis, whatever you want to call it) for cats and I dont know if what I am doing is right. If anyone has links to someones concept statement that would be extremely helpful. I can post what I have so far if anyone wants to see it...thank you

Shaks

[Grog12]

Lighting concepts in 3 easy steps:

1st Paragraph: Concept of the show in visual terms"This show a sunday afternoon walk we see the world at a slower pace in bright shiny colors." Also a good place to reference any research you've done.
2nd Paragraph: What the show is about both literally and in figuratvly. Use this paragraph to justify the concept of your show.
3rd Paragraph: How you're going to use lighting to achive the concept of the show in visual terms and in relation to any research you've done. Don't get too technical talk in angles and color famlies not in Source 4's in catwalks and R318.

[rochem]

Originally Posted by Shakspeares suck

Hey all,
I am attempting to write my Lighting concept statement (lighting analysis, whatever you want to call it) for cats and I dont know if what I am doing is right. If anyone has links to someones concept statement that would be extremely helpful. I can post what I have so far if anyone wants to see it...thank you

Shaks

http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/g...statement.html

[rochem]

I had to go take care of something, so didn't have time to write out a full response other than just leaving the Glossary link. But anyways.

I'm not sure if my style is the "correct" or "accepted" way, but it works for me, and that's really all that matters. So when I first get a script, I read it through a couple times, mainly for enjoyment and to see any trends or underlying meanings. I may jot down a couple notes here if anything jumps out at me, but nothing too substantial. Then I put the script away and forget about it for a couple days. A couple days later (usually while I'm in the shower, although I'm not sure why) I will start to figure out the real underlying meanings to the show - is there a message the playwright wants you to take away, is there a strong theme throughout, and so on. Then I start writing these very general ideas down - nothing specific at all, just "this show highlights the conflict between old and new" or "this show explores the differences between two very different characters" and similar things. From that I figure out what kind of journey the audience will want to be taken on with the lighting. Of course, this is all discussed with the director and other designers at meetings to ensure that we all have the same general ideas, but for me at least, with the director I work with most often, she has worked with us long enough that she just basically lets us do our own things for the most part.

Okay, so now I have all these general ideas about where I want the show to go and what I want the audience to get out of it. Now I start to apply it to different scenes. Again, still talking in very general terms here. That scene where the two female leads are standing on opposite sides of the stage now has a whole new meaning. Because I've taken the time to fully understand the show and such, I can see the director's blocking of this scene and decide that I want to isolate each woman on her side, maybe using complementary colors to further separate them. For another scene, I might decide that I want a warm shin coming in from SL on the actress' face to make her a little warmer and soften up some of the shadows on her face. Maybe for another scene it's outdoors and it's a very tense scene, so I decide I want some deeper colors and maybe some breakup gobos to add to the moment. Generally, all this goes into a notebook which I carry around with me everywhere I go (yes, that includes the shower). Sometimes it's in neat paragraphs in essay form, other times it's notes jotted down on a page, and other times it might just be sketches and diagrams. But I keep everything labeled and organized so I can always go back and know exactly what I was talking about at the time.

And for the most part, this is as close to a Lighting Concept as I ever get. I did try the "correct" version of a Lighting Concept/Statement for one or two shows, but it just didn't really work for me. I guess my "Lighting Concept/Statement" would be those notes I start jotting down after I've put the script away for a few days. It's generally just notes in bullet form, maybe some sketches, but it's always at least 5 or 6 pages long, and I could probably turn it into a proper sentence/paragraph/essay structure if I wanted to. But it's just easier for me to jot down my thoughts as they come than try to put them into a well-organized essay. And if a well-organized essay is what works for you, that's great, keep using it. If not, maybe just jotting things down will work better. Or if not that, maybe some other method that works for you. There's no ME who's gonna sit there puzzling over your formatting, no Head Carp who's gonna wonder exactly what dimensions you want, and no TD who's gonna wonder what gel he should order for "Bluey-yellowy-sickly-greenish mix".

[midgetgreen11]

Are you taking this to International Thespian Festival shakespeares_suck ?

[Shakspeares suck]

Originally Posted by midgetgreen11

Are you taking this to International Thespian Festival shakespeares_suck ?

I am auditioning for colleges at ITS, however i was unable to sign up for NIES (my **** directors fault) speaking of which we should put out a call to all CB members to meet somewhere

[TupeloTechie]

I will be there too, we talked about it in another thread a few weeks ago, however we didn't ever decide on a place to meet.

Anybody in the NIES auditions should post their design/concept statement/paperwork/etc. I am working on revisions as I found a few mistakes in my paperwork after the regional festival, however as soon as I finish I will.

Also anyone going to the festival should come check out these IE's. I hear there is going to be 9 of them this year. Which is so much better than the one (me) last year.

We should get a list of those going, maybe start a fresh thread (as to not hijack this one further.)